In the book Outliers, and in the articles, “Meaningful Work”, “Do, Just, Do: A Journey to Meaningful, Satisfying work”, and “ You Wont Find Meaningful work Looking Outside Yourself”, The authors Malcolm Gladwell, Michael F. Steger, Lori Deschene, and Keven wood describe what the joy of meaningful is to them.Life is what you make of it and it’s and up to you to decide what you will get out of it. Some people may work eight hour shifts Monday through Friday miserable, exhausted, depressed, unhappy, and under a lot of pressure and stress from their jobs. Others may do the same, similar, or different jobs being comfortable, happy with life, and pleased with their job position. Your job should be one of the most important things to you because …show more content…
Steger believes, “People work for many reasons- some are obvious, some are not as obvious” (Meaningful work). Some people may work for a paycheck and others may work because it’s what makes them happy.In Steger opinion , “Meaningful work comes from the individual or organization, some people bring a sense of meaning and mission with them to the work place, and some organizations excel at creating meaningful work places where every employee becomes part of creating success, cohesiveness, and culture at a workplace” (Meaningful Work). I agree with Steger I believe meaningful work can come from within or from the workplace, For example, I am an employee of Starbucks Coffee shop, and I love my job. Every day before I clock in at work I am very happy and ready to work hard. Starbucks is not the best job in the world,but it is meaningful to me because it was my first job and also the job that pulled me out of my shell and taught me how to communicate and interact with people. My job as a Barista means a lot and it has been a great experience working for the company. The company also excels at meaningful work by offering many job opportunities for their employees, giving them the privilege to work hard, earn more money, and make their work more meaningful. Steger would agree with my experiences and my job position being meaningful to me because it makes me
Malcolm Gladwell describes a sure fire way to become an expert in any subject in chapter two of Outliers. He explains that in order to be successful you must work for ten thousand hours. Gladwell is a non-fiction writer who collects research data and interprets it as guidelines to being successful. In the book Outliers he examines dozens of successful people and analyzes their rise to fame and success. His purpose is to identify misconceptions about how to be successful and to praise outliers for beating the odds. His work teaches us how outliers rise against the odds and how to identify their extraordinary luck, opportunity and hard work. His writing enlightens the average reader on how a successful person rose to the occasion and the different factors in their lives that helped them do so. The intended audience is anyone interested in discovering just how much work it has taken in the past to be the best of the best and how to apply oneself. In chapter two of Outliers Gladwell leads us through the lives of computer programmer Bill Joy, world-class violinists, musical genius Amadeus Mozart, chess grandmasters of the twenty first century, internationally popular UK pop band “The Beatles,” and computer genius and former richest man in the world, Bill Gates. Gladwell’s attempt to persuade readers of the ten thousand hour rule is successful because of his use of exemplum, logos and rhetorical question.
In today’s society you either have to work hard to live a good life, or just inherit a lump sum of cash, which is probably never going to happen. So instead a person has to work a usual nine to five just to put food on the table for their families, and in many cases that is not even enough. In the article, “Why We Work” by Andrew Curry, Curry examines the complexities of work and touches on the reasons why many workers feel unsatisfied with their jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich writes an essay called, “Serving in Florida” which is about the overlooked life of being a server and the struggles of working off low minimum wages. Curry’s standpoint on jobs is that workers are not satisfied, the job takes control of their whole life, and workers spend
Not every occupation requires “moving higher and higher and even…joining that special few at the very top, the elite who had the capacity to bring tears to men’s eyes” (Wolfe 18). The world needs those who “enhance our community by being a mom and dad who spend time with their children, serving in our military, being a responsible pet owner, volunteering to help a cause…, and so on and so on” (Briggs). These people with jobs viewed as small think of themselves as only giving a minor contribution to the community because concepts like “the right stuff” glamorize the jobs that risk human lives. Not everyone can have “the right stuff,” then the hazardous jobs wouldn’t seem so risky if any person could execute them. In addition to the stigma behind “small” jobs, people often neglect to appreciate the employees of less-desired jobs. Many of these people cannot afford to further their education in order to receive “better” careers. Thus, importance relies not on the danger of the task, but on the necessary effort and the desired result.
As one of the many business majors, the idea of my job being meaningless, or al least not a significant “benefit” to society has crossed my mind. I am in college to compete in our materialistic society for the highest paying job. In other words, I’m in it for the money. Perhaps the “crisis of perception” is something for me to think about, maybe even more than others. I know my reasons aren't in line with the value system I like to portray I have and live by. Yet, I still compromise them; giving myself the excuse that I am doing it all for my future family, or something like that.
There are a lot of reasons motivating people to work, such as their happiness, interests and self-esteem. However, it is important that jobs can influence people to keep their ambitions to achieve their goals, to satisfy their basic needs and to focus on one thing with their passion. Florence Nightingale gave up financial support from her family since she had an ambition to improve England’s medical and healthcare environment in the 19th century. And during my high school, “my job” offered me a suitable chance to reach my aim, too. In “Workers” by Richard Rodriguez, undocumented physical labor who comes from Mexico works in the U.S. to earn money for their basic needs. Furthermore, in Carl Rowan’s short story, “Unforgettable Miss Bessie,” Miss Bessie, a high school teacher with a plenty of knowledge, uses her passion to educate Africa American. According to these three people and me, jobs are so important for everyone because people need some ways to satisfy their ambitions, money for basic needs and passion on doing something.
Pieper describes work as “that which gives man’s workday its name” (Pieper, 15). He also says, “it has a practical purpose, it produces utilitarian goods, it contributes to the common useful wealth…” (Pieper, 19). What Pieper means here I think is that, anything that we do that gives us satisfaction and provides for our daily needs so we may remain alive, is what is called work.
Firstly, having a steady job can have stable income. In now’s society, money is one of the most important thing, especially for an adult. In average, an American family can spend 51,100 dollars a year, which include transportation, food, entertainment, education, housing, insurance, clothes and some others. And a thirty year-old person can earn 54,305 dollars a year. So if a person has a full-time job, he is able to afford the family’s expends. Having stable income can also provide people safety, because money is necessary for living. Doing one job constantly can improve a person’s ability. Because getting used to a job need time, and be a master of the job takes even more time. While doing the stable job, people can explore new things, new method and give more sophisticate ideas to keep challenge oneself. Doing a steady job can also provide working experiences, and it is like having an insurance for the future. Because the boss will know more about the person, and know what kind of job he is good at. Then the person can at least keep the job or even luckily, get a promotion. Because there are so many benefits of keeping a steady job, people should not follow the dream.
Again, I believe Taylor is missing some important feature to his theory. It seems he is correct in stating one should have their own sense of meaning to their life not just others’ perception that one’s life is meaningful. However, there is still the problem of giving equal meaning to everyone life that is doing what they love to do. As a result, to answer this problem one could suggest in order for one to have a meaningful life a person must be subjectively fulfilled by pursuing objectively valuable ends. This way it ensures the person must find meaning in their own lives as well as creating something that benefits many that will give others the perception the person has a meaningful life.
Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize winner and writer, says, “If he noticed how he felt, he could not have done the work” (Dillard). She is referring to Dave Rahm, a stunt pilot who seemed to love his work. After Annie had took a flight with him, she had realized that he was not as passionate about being a stunt pilot as everyone thought. Many people can be fond of their type of work, but someday they will realize they are not happy with it. I know someone personally who had a great career, and decided they were not happy and quit. Also, many people would consider Dave Rahm to have a dream job, but it shows that someone can not be happy unless they are passionate about their work. Likewise, Thomas Carlyle believes that an individual’s passion will be calling. Carlyle says, “He has a work, a life-purpose; he has found it, and will follow it!” (Carlyle). This is a great representation of the point Annie Dillard is trying to get across. Thomas Carlyle is saying that through life a man has to find his life purpose and the reason he walks the Earth. This article is a perfect example of someone quits everything just to find their professional calling in life. Although he believes you should find your passion, Carlyle also says, “an endless significance lies in Work; a man perfects himself by working” (Carlyle). By saying this, Thomas means that a person has to find
I woke up extra early that warm September day. The drastic transition ahead intimidated me; the feeling the anxiety pierced out of my chest. That morning was unique, the first anticipating work. I never before involved myself in extracurricular activities, therefore feeling this amount of purpose at one time was enticing. People now heavily depended on me to perform a task correctly, or an entire business would be affected. The feeling dominated as the largest sense of purpose in my life, and at only fifteen, I became addicted. From that day forward, working has been the backbone of my motivation and self-esteem through purpose.
Balance is important because you need time away from work to spend time with your family or do everyday activities. In return, this gives you amazing health benefits mentally and physically. During the video, they used the quote: ‘Work defines who we are and how others see us’. This means that what ever occupation someone has, that defines them about who they are. They also discussed job satisfaction which means being fully satisfied with your job. if you have a job that you love you will never work a single day in your life. Job satisfaction also builds great self esteem and characteristics. There are also different hours you can work for example, there is casual where there are no minimum hours you have to work a week whereas a part time worker, you have to work a minimum of ten hours a
Exhausted, bitter, and miserable is the way that many people feel when they wake up in the morning to get ready for work. Even the very thought of work puts some people in a bad mood. Others may not mind work but still do not look forward to going. It is a rare occasion to find someone who is completely satisfied with his or her career. However, for one man, work is bliss. In “Quality” by Galsworthy, Gessler, the shoemaker, is shown to be a man of integrity and of complete dedication to his work.
Everyone 's goal in life is to make sure they live a meaningful life, it 's what makes people motivated and how they rate themselves. We all run into this quandary which has challenged philosophers, scientists, and a numerous amount of other people. ‘How do we live a full and meaningful life?’ No one has entirely figured out how to live a meaningful life, but there are several key points researchers have found that help people find their meaning and satisfaction in life. We need to know what 's important to us, pursue our passion, discover our life 's purpose, spend more on people than things, express ourselves and have courage, prioritize human connection with others, and know meaning and happiness
Being a good employee is essential in today’s world, especially in these tough economic times when there are many seeking work. Consequently, it is important to keep in mind that no employee is irreplaceable. While hearing many complain these days about his or her job, one just needs to look around and be thankful that they have the means in which to survive and are able to work. There are many who are not only unemployed, but also unable to perform due to illness or a disability. Sometimes when a person is feeling in a mood to complain, they may need to sit back, relax and take a look around in order to appreciate what they have, and learn how to be a good employee.
A happy life and meaningful life are associated with one another, since happiness is a feeling that can drive you toward finding this meaningful life. Depending on where you are in your life, be it a student or worker, happiness should be incorporated into it. Having the passion in your work will make it more valuable and respected for yourself as we spend most of our time at school or work. Also connections with people are made throughout your time at school/work which become a part of a meaningful life. Having happiness will help create more of these relationships and be able to give you the needed support for life.